Help! 1977 corvette - will not re-start

[77cruiser]

ad I HAVE A 1977 CORVETTE THAT WON'T RE-START. I CAN TAKE IT FOR A RIDE, PARK IT, SHUT IT OFF AND THEN IT WILL NOT RE- START. WHEN TURNING THE KEY TO RE-START IT, THE BRAKE & GENERATOR IDIOT LIGHTS WILL COME ON, THE GAUGES WILL WORK, AS WILL THE RADIO & LIGHTS, BUT THERE IS NO CRANKING OF THE ENGINE, NO STARTER SOUND, NO CLICKING; JUST PLAIN QUITE. AFTER IT SITS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME; MORE THEN A HOUR, IT WILL THEN RE-START, OR I CAN IMMEDIATELY JUMP IT FROM ANOTHER CAR OR PUT THE BATTERY CHARGER ON IT IN THE 50 AMP POSITION & IT WILL START RIGHT UP. YESTERDAY, I HAD IT AT THE GENERATOR SHOP & THEY TESTED IT WHILE IT WAS RUNNING & IT WAS STATED THAT THE GENERATOR & THE STARTER WERE O. K., BUT THE BATTERY WAS BAD. THEY DIDN'T WANT TO SHUT IT OFF FOR FURTHER TESTING, BECAUSE WHERE IT WAS THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO JUMP THE BATTERY. TODAY I PUT A NEW BATTERY IN IT; 850CCA & 1000CA & GUESS WHAT ! IT STILL DOES THE SAME THING. HOW CAN I REMEDY THIS PROBLEM ?

THANKS FOR ANY HELP. 77CRUISER
PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS POST OR EMAIL ME AT: the_lawn_ranger@comcast.net

 

[bill81vette]

1st Welcome to CAC!!!!
2nd,have you checked the starter?????
I would also check the wiring going to the starter from the battery.

 

[BigJimZ16]

ad I HAVE A 1977 CORVETTE THAT WON'T RE-START. I CAN TAKE IT FOR A RIDE, PARK IT, SHUT IT OFF AND THEN IT WILL NOT RE- START. WHEN TURNING THE KEY TO RE-START IT, THE BRAKE & GENERATOR IDIOT LIGHTS WILL COME ON, THE GAUGES WILL WORK, AS WILL THE RADIO & LIGHTS, BUT THERE IS NO CRANKING OF THE ENGINE, NO STARTER SOUND, NO CLICKING; JUST PLAIN QUITE. AFTER IT SITS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME; MORE THEN A HOUR, IT WILL THEN RE-START, OR I CAN IMMEDIATELY JUMP IT FROM ANOTHER CAR OR PUT THE BATTERY CHARGER ON IT IN THE 50 AMP POSITION & IT WILL START RIGHT UP. YESTERDAY, I HAD IT AT THE GENERATOR SHOP & THEY TESTED IT WHILE IT WAS RUNNING & IT WAS STATED THAT THE GENERATOR & THE STARTER WERE O. K., BUT THE BATTERY WAS BAD. THEY DIDN'T WANT TO SHUT IT OFF FOR FURTHER TESTING, BECAUSE WHERE IT WAS THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO JUMP THE BATTERY. TODAY I PUT A NEW BATTERY IN IT; 850CCA & 1000CA & GUESS WHAT ! IT STILL DOES THE SAME THING. HOW CAN I REMEDY THIS PROBLEM ?

THANKS FOR ANY HELP. 77CRUISER
PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS POST OR EMAIL ME AT: the_lawn_ranger@comcast.net

My money is on a bad starter solenoid, when it heats up from it's close proximity to the exhaust system the fine wire in the coil takes a beating. The circuit prbably opens up when everything grows with the heat. The other issue at the solenoid is the main power connections can fail as the plastic nose on the solenoid ages and decomposes the through bolt connections can get very loose!!
Change out the starter assy and drive on your merry way!!

 

[6880 Mike]

Turn your BOLD off. Your problem is heat soak. The starter and solenoid are retaining heat when you drive the car. Is the stock heat shielding in place? Do you have an exhaust leak which might be blasting the starter or solenoid? Headers?

 

[77cruiser]

77 Corvette - won't re-start

1st Welcome to CAC!!!!
2nd,have you checked the starter?????
I would also check the wiring going to the starter from the battery.

Thanks for your speedy reply. Generator shop stated generator & starter were O.K., but the battery was bad. Will have to make another appointment to get it down there. This time I will bring my battery charger with me, so when it doesn't re-start, I'll be able to jump it. Thanks again

 

[Peer81]

The problem is very simple. It's your starter and your wiring! As your starter heats up it needs more juse to get the solenoid working. As your OEM wiring is old and not that great it can't give it more juse that it is already doing. So what you can do is very simple, first you can take out the weak switches in the 12v wire to the solenoid like the automatic selector switch on a auto car, alarm connections etc etc. But in the end you have 2 choices. First rewire the 12v wire to the solenoid with a better / bigger wire. Second get yourself a starter that isn't going to need that much juse when hot. Of course the shop said the starter is oke, they maybe tested it cold but more importent they have big wires connecting to it (like your jumper is). I would say, get yourself a high torque starter and don't look back

Greetings Peter

 

[77cruiser]

Help 77Corvette - will not re-start

The problem is very simple. It's your starter and your wiring! As your starter heats up it needs more juse to get the solenoid working. As your OEM wiring is old and not that great it can't give it more juse that it is already doing. So what you can do is very simple, first you can take out the weak switches in the 12v wire to the solenoid like the automatic selector switch on a auto car, alarm connections etc etc. But in the end you have 2 choices. First rewire the 12v wire to the solenoid with a better / bigger wire. Second get yourself a starter that isn't going to need that much juse when hot. Of course the shop said the starter is oke, they maybe tested it cold but more importent they have big wires connecting to it (like your jumper is). I would say, get yourself a high torque starter and don't look back

Greetings Peter

Thank you Peter for your response to my problem & from the Netherlands no less. And thank you to all the other responsees; who all state about the same thing. However, you took more time to explain the problem & why its doing it & the solution. I just dropped off the starter to be checked & to have it rebuilt if necessary. The Tech at the shop completely agrees with you They are so busy, it won't be done until monday. No matter. I found a heat shield for it too , but it will take at least 1 week to get here, In the mean time I will be re-wireing it. Actually had no choice, I had to cut the thin black wire going to it because I couldn't reach the nut from underneath, nor could I fit the socket & my hand from the top due to the headers. In alittle over a week from now I hope to be able to take it for a ride & re-start it to get home. Thanks again to all, Mike.

 

[77cruiser]

Thank you Peter for your response to my problem & from the Netherlands no less. And thank you to all the other responsees; who all state about the same thing. However, you took more time to explain the problem & why its doing it & the solution. I just dropped off the starter to be checked & to have it rebuilt if necessary. The Tech at the shop completely agrees with you They are so busy, it won't be done until monday. No matter. I found a heat shield for it too , but it will take at least 1 week to get here, In the mean time I will be re-wireing it. Actually had no choice, I had to cut the thin black wire going to it because I couldn't reach the nut from underneath, nor could I fit the socket & my hand from the top due to the headers. In alittle over a week from now I hope to be able to take it for a ride & re-start it to get home. Thanks again to all, Mike.

The final solution to my re-starting problem is as follows:

1st. of all, the starter & solenoid checked out to be fine. The shop did clean up the armature tho & re-assembeled; at no cost to me. A friend of mine, who was a race car mechanic, came over & changed the wiring set up. Some of you may not like the way it was done, but its working really good. He installed a standard T - series "Ford" solenoid to the firewall area, to the right of the distributor & connected the original wires that went to the starter, to it. He grounded this solenoid by tapping into a neaby ground wire & running a 12Ga wire to the mounting nut & bolt. This was done because the firewall is not metal.

He then attached a new 3 foot, 4Ga. Positive wire, to the Positive terminal of the Ford solenoid & attached the other end to the starters positive terminal He also connected a small 10GA "jumper wire" from the positive terminal of the starter, to the small terminal on the starter nearest the engine block.


I did receive the stock heat shield that I bought off of ebay. To say the least, its a real joke. I made my own out of a piece of stainless steel; 5" X 6". I attached it to the starter by cutting 2 tabs on one end & attaching it to the 2 screws on the rearend of the starter solenoid & hand bending it to a half circle. If anyone is interested in the stock heat shield, you can email me; my email address is in my original post.

For those of you who are wondering why I went this route - its simple. I was going to replace the positive 4GA wire from the battery to the starter, but after getting under the car & trying to track it, I realized it to be next to impossible; if not impossible, after it went over the tranny. Also, when looking up the replacement 4GA wire on line for a 77 corvette, it stated it was 4 foot long. No way. from the battery compartment behind the drivers seat, over the trans & to the starter has to be at least 7 feet or more. If this solution did not correct the "heat splash" problem, then I would have replaced the original positive wire, ran it a different route, but still would have inserted the ford solenoid. In doing it this way, it will be alot easier to get the starter out, if it fails, by just disconnecting the 3 foot positive wire from the ford solenoid & unbolting the starter from below, instead of trying to get the socket onto the nuts from above; between the headers, or cutting the wires, to save the aggravation. Also, my vet is not stock. It has the ground effects, rear spoiler, custom black w/gold metal flake paint, headers, a replaced 350 C.I. bored to 377 & HP beefed up. So I wasn't really concerned about doing it this way.


Again, thanks to all who who responded to my cry for help. And, I hope my way of solving this problem may help someone else.